1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing method and a printer driver.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, there have been increasingly proliferated in the market various kinds of copiers or multi-functional apparatuses, each provided with a combination of plural functions, such as a copy function, a facsimile function, a printer function, a scanner function, etc., (hereinafter, referred to as an image forming apparatus as a general term for each of them). When the image forming apparatus is employed as the network printer to implement the printing operation, at first, the concerned document is created by using the application program installed in advance in the computer terminal device coupled to the network, and then, the created document is converted to the print data in the format of the Page Description Language (hereinafter, also referred to as the PDL, for simplicity) by employing software (printer driver) for controlling the image forming apparatus, so as to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus concerned. Receiving the print data from the computer terminal device, the image forming apparatus parses the print data to create intermediate data, and then, further converts the intermediate data to bitmap data, so as to output an image based on the bitmap data onto a paper medium. For instance, the abovementioned image forming apparatus is set forth in Tokkai 2006-254042 (Japanese Non-Examined Patent Publication)
In this connection, when the user instructs the computer terminal device to implement the printing operation from a document application program currently installed in the computer terminal device, a print setting screen for selecting an image forming apparatus implementing the printing operation and for setting pages to be printed, a number of copies, etc., is displayed on the computer terminal device concerned. However, in a typical situation, it is impossible for the user to select a kind of paper sheet from the print setting screen above-mentioned. Accordingly, for instance, when the user wishes to use a specific paper sheet, such as an OHP sheet, etc., he should conduct a predetermined button operation (for instance, a depression of a property button) to display a screen for setting the printing conditions (hereinafter referred to as a document property screen), and then, conducts the setting operations of the items in regard to the kind of paper sheet, a paper sheet feeding tray, etc., as desired by the user, from the document property screen.
However, since the items in regard to a kind of paper sheet, a paper sheet feeding tray, etc., displayed on the document property screen, are user settable items, which can be arbitrarily set by the user, the setting status of such the items does not necessary match with an actual status of the image forming apparatus concerned (namely, a kind of paper sheets actually accommodated in the paper sheet feeding tray of the image forming apparatus concerned).
Accordingly, in order to prevent erroneous settings of the items in regard to a kind of paper sheet, a paper sheet feeding tray, etc., the user should take any one of the three actions, including: (1) making the computer terminal device display a screen indicating the actual status of the image forming apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a device property screen) by using a bilateral communicating function of the printer driver, so as to confirm the actual status of the image forming apparatus; (2) confirming the actual status of the image forming apparatus on the computer terminal device by using a predetermined utility tool; and (3) going to a site in which the image forming apparatus is installed, to confirm a kind of paper sheets accommodated in each of the paper sheet feeding tray. Among the three methods mentioned in the above, since the method (2) has no versatility due to the necessity of the utility tool, while the actual implementation of method (3) is quite difficult due to the fact that the computer terminal device and the image forming apparatus are installed in separate sites being remote from each other, the method (1) is employed in general.
Referring to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, the printing procedure in the case of using the abovementioned device property screen will be detailed in the following.
Initially, in Step S201, the user operates an operating section of the computer terminal device to display a list of image forming apparatuses, being controllable by the computer terminal device, onto a display section, so as to select an image forming apparatus desired by the user, and then, makes the display section display a device property screen 50 shown in FIG. 10. On this device property screen 50, various kinds of information in respect to the image forming apparatus are indicated while classifying them with tabs, and, by selecting a specific tab (herein, “apparatus information” tab) from the tabs indicated, various information in regard to the paper sheet accommodated in each of the paper sheet feeding tray, such as a size and a direction of the paper sheet, a kind of paper sheet, etc., are indicated within an apparatus information display column 51 (herein “paper sheet feeding tray information” column). Successively, the user observes the apparatus information display column 51 in order to confirm and memorize in which tray the paper sheet to be employed for the printing operation is accommodated. For instance, when the user wishes to employ an OHP sheet for printing, the user memorizes the fact that the OHP sheet is accommodated in tray 4.
Successively, the user develops the document application program, installed in advance in the computer terminal device, to create the document data, or, after reading out the document data stored in a storage section, such as a server, etc., and after displaying the print setting screen by instructing the printing operation from the document application program, the user conduct a predetermined button operation so as to display a document property screen 52 shown in FIG. 11 (Step S202). On this document property screen 52, various kinds of items for setting the print conditions are indicated while classifying them with tabs, and, by selecting a specific tab (herein, “setup” tab) from the tabs indicated, the items, including the document direction, the document size, the output image size, the zooming, the paper sheet feeding tray, etc., are displayed in the paper sheet column, and, in each of the items, the information set by the user or established as default information is indicated.
Still successively, in Step S203, the user compares the paper sheet feeding tray confirmed in the device property screen 50 with that established in the document property screen 52, and confirms whether or not the paper sheet feeding tray to be employed for printing is selected in the item of paper sheet feeding tray in the paper sheet column of the document property screen 52. For instance, when the user wishes to employ the OHP sheet for printing, the user confirms the fact that the tray 4 is actually selected.
Still successively, in Step S204, the user depresses a screen shift button 53 (in this case, “paper sheet kind setting” button) to display a paper-sheet kind setting screen 54, so as to confirm the kind of paper sheet accommodated in the paper sheet feeding tray, which is to be employed for printing.
Yet successively, in Step S205, the user determines whether or not the current establishment of the kind of paper sheet should be changed. When determining that the current establishment of the kind of paper sheet should be changed, the user depresses a shift button 55 (herein, “edit” button) in the paper-sheet kind setting screen 54 so as to display a paper-sheet kind editing screen 56 (Step S206), and then, the user sets the other kind of paper sheet (herein, OHP sheet) appropriate for the paper sheet feeding tray concerned (Step S207).
After that, the user sequentially closes the paper-sheet kind editing screen 56, the paper-sheet kind setting screen 54 and the document property screen 52 one by one, and returns to the print setting screen, in order to instruct the printing operation. In response to the instruction of the printing operation, the print driver converts the document data to print data, and transmits the print data to the image forming apparatus concerned, so as to make the image forming apparatus implement the printing operation by designating the paper sheet feeding tray (Step S208).
As mentioned in the above, when printing a document based on document data onto a specific kind of paper sheet, there has been necessary to confirm the actual status of the image forming apparatus from the device property screen 50 in advance, and then, to establish the items in regard to the paper sheet, such as a paper sheet feeding tray, a kind of paper sheet, etc., in advance, by using the document property screen 52, the paper-sheet kind setting screen 54 and the paper-sheet kind editing screen 56. Accordingly, there have been problems that errors in the setting items in regard to the paper sheet are liable to occur, and maneuverability during the printing operation is bad.